What's the future hold for Audi? In a word,
"electronics." Expect a much greater integration of mobile
consumer electronic devices, such as the iPod, the MP3 player or USB
sticks into Audis, with Bluetooth being the key enabler. However, a
significant factor in the German automaker's thinking is that for
all the increasing demand for the latest electronic items being
available on the launch of a new model, the "over 60s" segment
of its customer base is growing, and the group between 60 and 70 has
significant purchasing power. This means, says Michael Renz, head of
central marketing at Audi, that the emphasis must be placed on helping
the customer to operate the vehicle intuitively and safely rather than
on patronizing them. "In-car electronics consequently need to
provide age-appropriate solutions and straightforward operating concepts
for complex systems," says Renz. "To satisfy these
requirements, new standards in the operation of automotive infotainment
are being defined. The Audi MMI [Multi Media Interface] system aims to
keep enhancing ease of operation, safety, and communication of
information for older people, too. Gesture recognition by means of
special 3D cameras, new display technologies and laser projections are
important elements in the implementation of new concepts. Enhanced
safety is assured by implementing assistance functions and intelligent
information management such as call suppression if the momentary traffic
situation is critical."

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However, it is not just the aging population that is guiding
Audi's thoughts on its future products but also the widening of its
market base geographically. "Increasing globalization is a further
trend," says Renz., who goes onto explain that the topic of
navigation in Asian markets exemplifies the wide-ranging differences in
requirements from one region to another. Navigation systems with 3D
graphics, animated buildings and real-image representations are already
standard there, and Asian characters and an MMI system optimized to each
specific country are an absolute 'must'. In order to satisfy
the credentials of a global player, all standards such as characters,
modified system languages, differing national network standards and
statutory requirements need to be met.

As well as the Asian market, Eastern European countries are
becoming increasingly important to Audi. Says Renz, "We achieved
the world's highest share of 12-cylinder models in the luxury
segment with the Audi A8 in Russia, for example. In order to build on
this lead and exploit the rising market potential, it will be necessary
to offer a navigation system modified for the Russian market, using
Cyrillic characters." Renz says this means that in order to
implement such regional differences rapidly, modular software will be
needed. "This modularity will make it possible to adapt the
software to typical national requirements or individual customer needs
flexibly and independently of the hardware. This clearly demonstrates
how important even the domain of electronics that is not visible to the
customer is."

Renz also alludes to the ultimate demise of the CD changer with the
increasing popularity of new products such as the MP3 player, DVD changer, standard interfaces for connecting up consumer electronic
devices and hard disk drives. The problem, though, is that the
development cycles of around three to four years in the auto industry
and production lifespan of about seven years contrasts poorly with
development cycles of just a few months and a product lifespan of often
less than one year in the world of computers, processors and other
electronic terminal devices. "The solution to this dilemma involves
designing the electronics in a vehicle in such a way that they can be
subsequently updated and upgraded at any time," say Renz.
"Although this situation adds to the complexity of the development
phase, it opens up prospects for keeping the vehicle up to date over a
longer period. It also provides scope for new business models."

Bluetooth, the open standard that is valid worldwide for wireless
close-range communication for voice and data in the license-exempt 2.4
GHz frequency band, looks set to be a vital key in this area, says Peter
Kohlschmidt, head of connectivity development at Audi. "Even in the
mobile phone industry, with its rapid innovation and product development
cycles, after the official founding of the Bluetooth Special Interest
Group [SIG] in 1998, it took until the end of 2000 before the first
production-ready mobile phone with integrated Bluetooth headset preparation appeared. This first volume-produced business phone with
this hands-free profile did not appear on the market until the end of
2001. At the end of 2002 there were then eight mobile phone platforms,
one year later as many as 28, then 78 at the end of 2004 and 115 in May
2005, often with several different model versions with a hands-free
profile. Today, the Bluetooth SIG mentions hands-free use as the
application that has helped Bluetooth to achieve a broad-based
breakthrough. A recent study found that 120 million Bluetooth chips had
been delivered worldwide by the end of 2004 and that 1.2 billion of
these chips will have been sold by 2009. Studies quote the increasing
spread of retrofit solutions or ex-works, prompted by legislation as
well as growing familiarity of end users with this technology."

It is for this reason that Audi is launching the new Bluetooth car
phone with the launch of the new Audi Q7 which will be able to be
"left in the jacket pocket" and not be placed in an adapter
set. The Audi Bluetooth car phone solution will shut down the GSM stage
of the cell phone completely. "The mobile phone will thus serve as
a mobile SIM card reader," says Kohlschmidt. "No twin card or
constant juggling of SIM cars, as with a classic built-in phone, will be
necessary. The data for authenticating the user will be transmitted via
Bluetooth in a secure, encrypted form. The control unit built into the
vehicle contains an integral GSM module that establishes an optimum
radio connection with the phone network via the vehicle's exterior
aerial. The big advantage is that the mobile phone no longer radiates
any transmission energy inside the car. In other words, a connection to
the external aerial is no longer needed on the mobile phone. As the
mobile phone's power consumption is also significantly reduced
thanks to the GSM stage being shut down, the now customary battery
capacity means that the mobile phone need not be recharged in the car
even on a long journey. "The SIM's card's phone book can
moreover be accessed, though not the contact details saved in the phone
itself. However, our developers are already working on the latter aspect
and we will have come up with a solution by the end of this year."

The popularity of the Apple iPod is another factor with which the
carmakers are having to address, especially following the demand by
consumers to have it as a fitment in their cars. "Since market
launch, over 10 million players have been delivered worldwide, including
8.2 million in 2004 alone," says Kohlschmidt. "This has
prompted calls both from this device's market and from the market
in general to integrate MP3 players into the vehicle, not simply to play
music via the vehicle's speakers but also to control the
device's functions via the MMI. There are various technical options
for this integration into the vehicle. Undoubtedly the fastest and most
obvious solution would be to connect it up directly to an interface in
the vehicle via a device-specific interface. However, such a solution
will mean it is only possible to connect up the devices on one
particular manufacturer rather than all portable music players, as the
cable-dependent interfaces of the various MP3 player manufacturers are
not standardised. Microsoft's portable players based on the
'PlayForSure' concept are strongly backing the USB interface."

Kohlschmidt points out that there are electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) and software complexity in integrating it into vehicles. Other
devices use either their own specific interfaces or do not offer any
scope for remote control over and above an analogue connection of the
audio signal. With cell phone manufacturers currently pursuing the
strategy of integrating MP3 players into multimedia smart phone, there
appears to be a potential solution for the transfer of audio data to the
vehicle, says Kohlschmidt, especially as the standard of quality it
achieves is on a par with high-grade MP3 compression. Audi has
consequently developed an initial prototype of a Bluetooth audio gateway
for the vehicle environment that not only features playback via the
vehicle's speakers but also remote control of the portable audio
player with Stop, Play, Pause, Next Track, Previous Track, Next Playlist and Previous Playlist commands.

"A number of technical hurdles nevertheless remain to be
overcome before a solution that is fit for production use is
realized," say Kohlschmidt. "On the one hand, the
constellation of commands that are currently possible is inadequate for
full integration into the MMI. Above all, there is a need for a more
convenient way of navigating through the music tracks stored on the
mobile device--sorted by playlists, tracks, albums, artists or music
styles--and for a means of displaying detailed information about the
music track currently playing. On the other hand, it is necessary to
find a solution to the problems posed by pieces of music that are
protected by copyright, where the licensor expressly prohibits digital
transmission in the license agreements, as is actually the case with
Bluetooth audio streaming. These requirements will need to be included
in a future version of the standard by the Bluetooth SIG, so that there
are no longer any obstacles to the full integration of mobile music
players in the car."

William Kimberley

wilkimberley@yahoo.co.uk

William Kimberley, European Correspondent

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